


Pebble

by A_Tomb_With_A_View



Series: Let’s be real, Bucky would be on Team Iron Man [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Basically, Fluff, IN SPACE!, M/M, Pepper is still running the world we Stan, Robot, Tony makes James a robot and we go from there, dragon - Freeform, dragon robot, intergalactic summer exchange, mild angst I promise, space travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 06:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23846650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Tomb_With_A_View/pseuds/A_Tomb_With_A_View
Summary: Tony wasn’t worried about the kids. They’d be fine.Winter was worried even less, he’d raised those two to be series badasses, they’d be fine.James though? James was a mess. His babies were galaxies away, with only a five man strong security team.Can I guess?? Be read as stand alone??? but ngl kids I’m not the best at being able to tell if it makes sense without the others
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Thor (mentioned), Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes & Harley Keener, James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Wade Wilson/Nate Summers (if you squint)
Series: Let’s be real, Bucky would be on Team Iron Man [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1264283
Comments: 12
Kudos: 284





	1. Introducing Pebble, stage left

**Author's Note:**

> That’s right, it’s me again.  
> Basically..I haven’t slept in like forty eight hours, read a bunch of comments from my other stuff, got inspired, wrote this in four hours, lovely jubbly 
> 
> To paraphrase a legend:
> 
> I started it, had a mental breakdown half way through, bonne appetite
> 
> Oh yeah if I fucked up like grammar or something like that pls let me know I will correct it :)

Tony wasn’t worried. 

Of course not. That would be ridiculous. He was an immortal superhero with a family that benevolently ran the globe. What reason did he, Tony fucking Stark-Barnes, have to be worried?

None. Which was exactly why he wasn’t worried. 

It was just—

Harley and Peter has gone on their first intergalactic political mission. Sure, they’d done similar stuff within the galaxy, auntie Carol whizzing them off to little colonies and to make treaties and allies. But, this.. this was big. This was his babies, his not-quite-flesh-and-blood-children, leaving the galaxy, which he himself had only done once, for a little vow renewal honeymoon tour with James, to go speak to planetary leaders, and huge, interplanetary boards and committees and systems, and making friends.

He didn’t doubt them, of course not. Carol had done a wonderful job teaching them about things, after she, Maria, and Monica had moved into the compound Tony still kept open, and Harley and Peter were just as immortal and competent as their dads. So he wasn’t worried. Not at all. 

Winter wasn’t worried either, because he was a stone cold boss who’s greatest pride and joy was the way Harley could outshoot him by a fraction of an inch, and he had complete faith in his sons and the guys he had sent as a protection/support detail. 

James, on the other hand.

Well.

James was a fucking mess, to put it shortly. 

It was understandable, and Tony was doing his best to support his sugarplum, but there had to be a way to stop him from checking in with the security team every ten minutes to make sure his kiddos were safe. Which they were. Because they were immortal badasses, and apparently the Southern Hospitality that Harley retained from his youth worked even intergalactically. 

So here Tony was, finishing up a robot dragon in the hopes of distracting his actual Nerd™️ of a snuggle bunny into building a Nest Of Science in the lab so that they could cuddle and tinker and maybe he could even convince Jamie to make him a breakfast burrito. 

“FRI-baby can you ask my darling lemon drop to pop down here please?” He winked at the sever in the corner of the room. Sure, after extremis, he could communicate directly with FRIDAY without any unnecessary verbal or physical interaction, but sometimes Tony liked to pretend he was still a lesser mortal and talk to his babies. 

He leaned back into James as he kissed Tony’s hair. “FRI says you was askin’ after me, baby?” 

“Hi handsome, yeah I’ve finished up a project I want you to see.” He grinned excitedly, “you ready?” 

James laughed and kissed his nose. “Course I’m ready hon. What’ch’a got for me?” 

Tony tugged the sheer he’d hastily covered the dragon with off of it, watching Jamie’s face carefully. “You like it?” 

No matter how many times Tony had watched James’ face light up at the sight of some cool piece of tech or weapon, it never failed to take his breath away. “Is that..baby is that a dragon?! Did you make a robot dragon??” 

And just like that, the worry melted off his face, eyes alight with awe. “I did a little better than that Jamie baby.” This time, instead of externalising anything, he sent a nudge at the AI encoded into the dragon mentally, because he was dramatic like that. 

The dragon’s head perked up, and she made a similar noise to when DUM-E got confused as she looked at James, stepping closer. 

——

James’ heart was melting. He could even sense Winter’s curiosity and amusement in the back of his mind, looking at this adorable robot. “I love her oh my god.” He grinned up at Tony. “What’s her name?”

“I was gonna let you decide that huh? How about..” Tony stood up and looped his arms around Jamie’s neck. “How about we build a den of snuggles and science, see how much our new son can do, decide on an appropriate name, and video call our actual sons?” 

James wrapped one arm around Tony’s waist, the other sliding lower to grab his ass. “How about we have a little.. us time, first?” 

“I am one hundred percent on board with that soldier.” 

——

They spent six hours in the den before Peter and Harley called, pretending obtusely that they couldn’t hear Bruce and Thor flirting on the other side of the lab. Tony would’ve kicked them out, but he was too busy being happy for his darling Brucie Bear, and was also distracted by his pudding cup gazing in awe at the DragonBot.

After building a structurally sound fort, they had curled up in the den with the bot, seeing what she could do.

Tony had made Jamie get the duvet from their bedroom, as well as any blanket, cushion, throw pillow, and bed pillow that he could find, whilst he himself build a structurally sound fort, then set about making hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls.

Okay so he actually just shoved some ready made dough into the oven and drizzled the icing on but the result was the same so who gives a fuck? Not Tony. 

Jamie was absolutely delighted to explore everything the bot could do. He’d named her Pebble for reasons Tony couldn’t really discern but didn’t care to question, and kept glancing between her and Tony like he couldn’t believe she was real.

After a while, he even went so far as to open up the fort for the other bots, excitedly introducing them to their new sister before Winter took over.

Winter wasn’t as visibly overjoyed as Jamie, he rarely did wear his emotions so obviously on his sleeve, but even he had a bright spark in his eye, and couldn’t stop himself from frequently pressing grateful kisses against whatever part of Tony he could reach, crooning fondly to his sweet галька. 

——

“Hi dad! Hi papa! How’s Earth? How’s the dragon bot? Have you named her? How’s Wade?” Pete was grinning at them, curled against Harley, a bowl of something Winter didn’t even want to try to identify in his lap. 

“Hello ребенок паук, огненный шар, earth is good, we love the dragon, her name is галька, and Wade is in England with Nate doing something that I did not want to ask about. How’s your tour going?” 

“It’s awesome. Everyone is so lovely, and the food is amazing.” Peter held up his bowl to show them. Winter still couldn’t tell what the fuck it was, and he was glad to leave it that way. 

Harley laughed at his expression. “Yeah we learnt not to ask what it was after the first time when we got served this weird species of space spider and Petey cried for three hours.” Peter flushed deeply, as Tony started cackling.

“Oh hon that’s absolute gold, Harl did you get any pictures?” 

Harley grinned evilly. “What do you take me for, dad. I’ll send you them later.” Peter gazed mournfully at him, but Harley just kissed his cheek and winked at Tony. 

“Now, about these treaties.”

——

Tony really hadn’t worried at any single point about Tony and Harley on their trip. They were immortal badasses, as he’d repeatedly told his Brucie Bear as they worked together on some cure Bruce had wanted to try. He had no reason to worry, that would’ve been ridiculous.

And it wasn’t suspicious at all how tightly he hugged his kiddos when they set foot on Earth, and no, sugarplum, that gleam in his eye was simply him communicating with FRI, of course it wasn’t a tear, how absolutely stupendous. 

Besides it was nothing compared to how Jamie lifted them both up at once, switching between Russian and English, James and Winter, as he murmured how glad he was that they’d made it home safe and if they ever tried to feed him space spider he’d remove their spleens and make them into kebabs for Tony’s dinner, so no one even noticed Tony discreetly daubing under his eye. 

It absolutely wasn’t a knowing look Bruce sent him. It was a non verbal confirmation that he’d had a break through. Absolutely that’s what it was.

But god was he glad his babies were home.


	2. To infinity and beyond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically   
> Intergalactic summer exchange programme   
> Dragon worshipping  
> Dragon robot  
> Minor angst but I fixed it so it’s fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Step 1: I was bored   
> Step 2: I’m a space nerd, the galaxy is a real galaxy, Kiso 5649 is another name for it  
> Step 3: look idrk where the angst came from but I’m sleep deprived and a little bit emotionally traumatised so this is what we got

Pebble was clearly the best thing Tony had ever come up with ever. Jamie was absolutely besotted, and joined Tony in the labs more than ever. They’d decided to step back from the whole benevolent dictators for the next couple decades, and with the level of genius Tony had finally managed to condense, with the help of the esteemed Pebble, into one room, between himself, Jamie, Brucie, Thor, Harley, Peter, and as many of their nerdy friends as they could find, they were finally ready. 

He cleared his throat. “Listen up cowards.” MJ, peter’s best friend, gave him a subtle nod for using the gender neutral intro she had told him to use - She’d said it would “be lasting and impactful” and would “really set the tone for the meeting. You’re the boss remember, gotta put them cowards in their place, no matter their gender identity.” 

“I’ve gathered all you geniuses and robots here today, because thanks to our local diplomats, Harls and Pete, we’ve managed to set up some sort of exchange with a planet in a galaxy a few light years from our own. Admittedly, Pebble,” he paused to nod at the dragon in question, “played an influential and irreplaceable role, because apparently these people love dragons, but essentially, the TLDR, is that any number of you can go on what I understand is pretty much an intergalactic summer camp for adult geniuses, starting in October.

“Now since this is an exchange, we need some sort of enticing and totally equal intergalactic summer camp for alien geniuses here on Earth. I’m open to volunteers, suggestions, questions. Everything. Hit me.”

——

James couldn’t believe that he was acting as a security guard to his dragon robot. 

Pebble was now considered a guest of extreme honour on the planet they’d set up the exchange with, Kiso in the LEDA 36252 galaxy, and so the council had asked if Pebble would accompany the first group to visit, and if the group would please include a mechanic and a guard for her, incase of any dangers. 

(No, James was not freaking out because of how cool it was to be in a fucking tadpole galaxy. That would be immature, and he was totally mature. It was just a galaxy.

Shaped like a tadpole.

Who was he kidding that was so fucking cool he was in a Galaxy. Shaped. Like. A. Tadpole!!!) 

He and Tony had decided to mainly just be the mechanic and guard, although Tony would share his time between James and Pebble, and the program. It would give them more time to explore Kiso anyways, and since the place worshipped dragons, it would hardly be good parenting to Pebble to visit a planet that worshipped dragons and not let her experience it fully. 

So there he was, in his tac gear and everything, blades strapped to literally every part of his body, bondage esque straps just for Tony’s appreciation and amusement, guarding his robot, whilst Tony motioned for Peter to start introductions. 

James didn’t really listen to most of it, but mainly, in his defence, it was because the planet was absolutely fucking awesome and the blue dude in the robes was absolutely Chiselled, and he had to make sure he and Tony were on the same page about that. They always were, and if the look Tony gave him was what he thought it was, they’d totally be contemplating inviting him to bed later, and that was a bit more important than introductions. 

Besides, whenever this sort of thing happened, he got filled with a fuzzy kind of warmth that he’d found the Person, the one that he could appreciate other people with, the one where words and jealously and stupid shit like that were irrelevant, because James could just glanced at the guys abs and then at Tony with a slightly lifted eyebrow, and the only reaction was Tony’s tongue darting out to wet his lip. 

“- my parents, the Iron Man and the Winter Soldier, two of earths greatest hero’s.” Huh. What the fuck was Peter mentioning that for? 

He gave a slightly awkward nod to the gold lady Peter was talking to, resolutely scritching Pebble’s head and ignoring the sniggers from literally half the kids, and Tony. 

Who needs a husband when they’re got a dragon anyways?

——

They spent the next six weeks on Kiso, making sure every single little thing about the exchange programme was absolutely perfect.

Well.

Tony did. 

James just looked after Pebble. 

He wasn’t mad about it or anything, he was glad his babydoll was doing something he’d been hoping to do for so long, and he loved spending time with Pebble.

He just..

Missed Tony a little bit.

Sure they spent every morning and night together, but often times Tony was too tired to do anything except roll into bed, and had early meetings about transportation of things humans needed that the inhabitants of Kiso didn’t. 

He’d spent the whole day, and most days before it, curled up in their room with Pebble, murmuring to her in Russian about everything he could see from their window, half asleep but wired due to nightmares he hadn’t wanted to bother his husband with. 

It was fine. 

They’d go back to Earth next week, and everything would be fine and they’d spend a few days in their room getting fully reacquainted before doing anything else. He felt guilty for being so excited to leave the site of so many things Tony had worked for, but Winter was getting restless as well, and being cooped up somewhere with no range and barely any Tony and even less Peter and Harley wasn’t doing either of them any good. 

It took them another three weeks before they actually ended up leaving, but that was fine. James could understand that sometimes things overrun and there’s extra work to do, and sure, he’d expected to mainly sightsee around Kiso with Tony, but it was hardly fair expecting him to play mechanic to one bot that didn’t need any work, when an intergalactic exchange programme of his making was being set up. 

It didn’t matter that the heater broke in their room on the ship back and James didn’t sleep for the whole trip back because of the cold creeping from his arm to his shoulder just like cryo, because Tony slept through most of the trip after so much work, so they didn’t talk then, anyways. 

It hadn’t occurred to him that after nine weeks of barely sleeping and ignoring his feelings and then three days of being stuck in a freezing room and ignoring his feelings would trigger a panic attack. 

It didn’t even make sense, he was warm, and in his own bed back home, and just waiting for Tony to come up after finalising some stuff in the lab, and then he’d texted to say he’d be a few more hours and James shouldn’t wait up because he’d seemed tired, and suddenly the walls were closing in and his chest was tight and he couldn’t breathe.

——

“Boss?”

“Not now FRI-baby. I promise I’ll go to bed in two hours.”

“Boss it’s James.” 

Tony looked up sharply. “What? Why didn’t you say so what’s wrong with him??”

“He appears to be a having a panic attack. His heart rate is elevated, and he is hyperventilating and shaking.” 

“Shit shit shit, save everything, fuck, tell him I’m on my way up, and get Brucie to bring some hot chocolate to our room okay?” Tony ran to the elevator, thrusting FRIDAY to speed it up, then burst into their bedroom when he reached their floor.

“Baby? Baby are you okay? Can I come closer?” He watched the shaking mass of blankets in the middle of the bed carefully. “Sweetie can I see your face? You don’t have to come all the way out honey, I just wanna make sure you’re okay.”

God no matter how many times he’d helped Jamie through a panic attack, or seen him cry and rage at everything that he’d been through, it never failed to utterly shatter his heart, the sheer pain on James’ face. 

“Hey there beautiful, I need you to breath real slow for me, can you do that?” 

He watched as James’ breathing slowly started to even out. “I’m gonna let Bruce in to give us hot chocolate, are you okay with him coming in, hon?” At James’ slight nod, Tony sent a signal to FRIDAY to let Bruce in, smiling gratefully at the man as he handed Jamie a hot chocolate. 

“You wanna talk about it?” He asked gently when Bruce had left. 

James nodded after a moment, then started talking, getting faster and faster as he worked himself up again. “-And I just-I know it was stupid, but I just couldn’t sleep on the ship on the way back, and then I thought maybe we’d get to cuddle and talk and stuff when we got home but then you went downstairs and I-I, I was gonna wait for you but then you told me not to and I just..lost it I guess.” 

Tony’s heart had been sinking lower and lower into his stomach as James’ had spoken, and when he finished he pulled him into a hug, slow enough to allow him to pull back if he so wanted.

“Oh my god honey I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think. C’mere baby there we go.” He shifted them until he was sat against the headboard, James between the V of his legs and leaning against his chest. Jesus how had he not noticed this beautiful man hurting? 

“I don’t wanna make excuses, I know how I can get, all swept up in work and stuff. I’m really sorry about the ship though Jamie. I didn’t even notice the heater was broken. I’m so sorry, my love.”

“It’s-its okay. I could’ve mentioned it. I’m not mad at you or anything, I’m so fucking glad you’ve got this whole project up and running, and I would’ve hated it if we’d’ve been entire galaxies apart. I’ve just.. I guess I was so stressed about the kids going on their tour, and then we had to make all the arrangements for Pepper and her people to not need us for a decade or two, and i..I didn’t take a break like I should’ve, and I let it build up.” He smiles gently and turned to bump his nose against Tony’s. “Thanks for helping me come down though.”

“Anytime buttercup. I love you so fucking much. Nella gioia e nel dolore, nella salute e nella malattia, e ti amerò e onorarti tutti i giorni della mia vita.”

James smiled adoringly at him. “I love you too. в богатстве и в бедности, в болезни и в здравии, в радости и в печали, с этого дня до тех пор пока смерть не разлучит нас.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um the translations are long and aren’t perfect but essentially they’re what I found under Italian and Russian vows Because I am in fact, a Sap ™️
> 
> What Tony says: in joy and in pain, in health and in sickness,   
> I will love you and every day honour you, for the rest of my life.
> 
> What James says: in wealth and in poverty   
> in the disease and in health   
> in happiness and in grief   
> from this day until death separates us.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:
> 
> галька = pebble  
> ребенок паук = baby spider  
> огненный шар = fireball  
> It’s from google translate so feel free to correct me :)
> 
> Please find me on tumblr under the same name :)


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